This invention pertains to a storage rack of a type comprising a front beam, a back beam, and a roller track, wherein the roller track comprises two side rails and a series of rollers, each of which extends and is journalled between the side rails and each of which projects above the side rails. In the storage rack, the roller track may be one of plural roller tracks on a given tier, which may be one of plural tiers. If the roller track is inclined frontwardly and downwardly, the storage rack may be also called a xe2x80x9cflowxe2x80x9d rack.
A storage rack of the type noted above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,158, in which a roller track is called a conveying member. As disclosed therein, a hanger having a portion hooked over a front beam has another portion supporting a front end of a roller track, via a member extending between and bracing the side rails near a front end of the roller track, and a hanger having a portion hooked over a back beam has another portion supporting a back end of the roller track, via a member extending between and bracing the side rails near a back end of the roller track.
As also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,158, the bracing member supported near the front end of the roller track is higher in relation to the side rails and the bracing member supported near the back end of the roller track is lower in relation to the side rails. Thus, the roller track can be frontwardly and downwardly inclined, even if the front and back beams are level with each other. U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,158 also discloses that the hangers, which are similar to each other, can be adjustably positioned along the respective beams.
A storage rack of related interest is disclosed in European Patent Publication No. 576,693, in which similar hangers that appear to be similarly adjustable are used to support plural rails without rollers, via flanges bent from the rails and fastened to the hangers via welding, bolting, or riveting, or via tabs projecting through slots in the hangers and bent under the hangers. A storage rack of related interest is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,490, in which similar hangers that appear to be similarly adjustable are used to support plural rails without rollers, via notched flanges formed on the hangers and preventing lateral movement of the rails.
A storage rack of related interest is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,185. Roller tracks of related interest are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,100, Re. 34,924, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,435,427, and 5,476,167.
This invention provides a storage rack of the type noted above, which comprises a front beam, a back beam, and a roller track. The roller track may be one of plural roller tracks on a given tier, which may be one of plural tiers. The roller track comprises two side rails and a series of rollers, each of which extends and is journalled between the side rails and each of which projects above the side rails. The rollers define a tangent plane above the side rails.
The storage rack further comprises a front hook having an upper portion, which is hooked over an upper edge of the front beam, and a lower portion, which defines a ledge projecting backwardly toward the back beam. The storage rack further comprises a back hook having an upper portion, which is hooked over an upper edge of the back beam, and a lower portion, which defines a ledge projecting frontwardly toward the front beam.
Each side rail has a front end, at or near which said side rail is supported on one of two end portions of the ledge defined by the lower portion of the front hook. Each side rail has a back end, at or near which said side rail is supported on one of two end portions of the ledge defined by the lower portion of the back hook. This invention does not require that the front and back ends of the side rails differ as to where or how the side rails are braced.
According to a first aspect of this invention, the ledge defined by the lower portion of the front hook is disposed below the upper portion of the front hook, where hooked over the front beam, by a comparatively greater distance and the ledge defined by the lower portion of the back hook is disposed below the upper portion of the back hook, where hooked over the back beam, by a comparatively lesser distance. Thus, the roller track can be frontwardly and downwardly inclined, even if the front and back beams are level with each other.
Preferably, when the first aspect of this invention is embodied, the tangent plane defined by the rollers above the side rails intersects the front hook, below where the front hook hooks over the front beam. Thus, the front hook provides a stop for a carton rolling along the roller track, toward the front beam.
According to a second aspect of this invention, each hook has a flange projecting upwardly from the ledge defined by the lower portion of said hook, between the end portions of the ledge defined by the lower portion of said hook and between the side rails, so as to limit lateral movement of the roller track on the ledge defined by the lower portion of said hook. The first and second aspects of this invention can be advantageously combined so that each hook is approximately as wide as the roller track at the lower portions of the side rails.
In a comparative sense, the front hook is taller, or deeper, and the back hook is shorter, or shallower. Similar taller and shorter hooks can be similarly used for fitting onto a storage rack, which has a front beam and a back beam, an elongate structure other than a roller track, such as an elongate structure having two side rails.